$66 stalls Rye transfer station agreement

RYE — A 20-year-old dispute over a $66 debt has stalled an agreement to allow the Rye Water District to purchase gasoline from the town transfer station.

Joey Cresta

RYE — A 20-year-old dispute over a $66 debt has stalled an agreement to allow the Rye Water District to purchase gasoline from the town transfer station.

The Board of Selectmen received a letter from the Water District requesting permission to purchase gasoline for service vehicles and diesel for a generator from the transfer station.

Town police, fire and public works vehicles fuel up at the station and the town obtains gasoline at a cheaper rate due to its purchasing power, Selectman Craig Musselman said.

Joe Mills, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, requested delaying a vote on the request due to a $66 debt he said the Water District still owes the town from about two decades ago. Mills, who often displays his profound memory for the history of town issues, recalled that in the early 1990s, audits twice found discrepancies in the record-keeping of gasoline purchases at the transfer station.

He said there were rumors that someone was stealing gas, but a police investigation revealed it was a case of "bad bookkeeping." To put the matter to rest, the town assessed all departments that used the fueling stations a fee.

The Water District's bill was $66, but its officials insisted they had made no error in their books and refused to pay, Mills said.

Mills said he plans to bring in a copy of the bill to the next meeting. The other two selectmen could still grant the Water District approval to purchase gas at the transfer station, but Mills made his position clear.

"Over my dead body will this go through, unless they pay that money," he said.

Selectmen heard on Monday from Joseph Allen and Christopher Latimer, both residents of Rye and the only members of Rye Boy Scouts Troop 181. Both have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

The scouts described recent community service projects they completed as a requirement to reaching the rank, an achievement that only around 7 percent of all Boy Scouts earned last year.

Allen built a picnic area at Goss Farm on Harbor Road, clearing brush and building picnic tables out of sliced tree trunks. Latimer worked on clearing trails and building bridges behind his father's business, Gus' Bike Shop in North Hampton, to provide access to a discarded railroad track that will be converted into a trail in the coming years.

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